Hundreds of Texas A&M students are under fire after faculty at the university suspected widespread cheating on online final exams. The infraction was first reported by Kate McGee from the Texas Tribune.
When professors started grading the results of a finance exam, they noticed that students were completing their exams in a record amount of time. Some students were answering before spending the time necessary to read some of the longwinded questions that were posted on the online learning portal Canvas.
The professors, along with the Aggie Honor System Officer director Timothy Powers, decided to do their own investigation and found that entire exams were posted on the tutor and homework assistance website Chegg.
An email was sent out to students requesting that they report their cheating by Dec. 8. Some students have come forward — however, there were a few who did not. The students are facing suspensions or the possibility of being expelled from the university altogether.
Chegg did address the issue of students sharing too much information on its platform.
“At Chegg, we believe that expertise and experience is important to actually retain knowledge and apply it in whatever field students seek upon graduation, so we ask students to stick to our Honor Code,” Chegg representative Devonya Batiste said.
One self-reporting student, who remained anonymous, also commented on why he decided to cheat.
“The culmination of the pandemic and its effect on learning, the assignments being open-note and the ease of access to Chegg made the decision to use outside help a lot easier for most students,” the student told the Texas Tribune.
If only the brainiac students would’ve answered those exam questions a little bit slower! (Palm to head).
